The Dark Side of Dreams (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798998860218)

One hundred years after Gunter Holden, CEO of Virtual Enterprises Inc., self-deletes, the sequel to Babylon Dreams answers questions, including: Yes, people can exist for near-eternity as digital human beings; and yes, for some, the virtual afterlife becomes not a heaven, but a hell.

Mira Holden knows Bali Hai-her grandfather's virtual paradise-is a zoo-like purgatory presided over by Donavan Hosseini, who rules his world with favors and immense pain. Mira, with the help of attorney Byron Hernandez, has other plans.

To reclaim VEI, Mira seeks a mind-upload copy of Gunter, made more than a century ago. She finds it in a closet. This version is untainted by crimes the original Gunter committed. Bali Hai is now Shemathra's Realm. Obeying Hosseini's corrupt deity humans manifest as herd animals. Manifesting as humans means heavy taxes and risking painful deletion.

To restore Bali Hai, Mira uploads the copy to Shemathra. To expose Hosseini's crimes, this new Gunter goes as a spy, recording the brutality in the human colonies.

Besides answers to a Pandora's box of technological questions, The Dark Side of Dreams asks: Is a copy of "you" really you? What, truly, is a soul? Will we ever know?